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Iowa DNR reports that Sunday’s fatal hunting incident in Mahaska County was an accident. As previously reported by KNIA/KRLS news 41 year-old Christopher J. Durham of Harvey was pronounced dead at the scene after being hit in the chest by a gunshot fired late Sunday afternoon while hunting near Bussey.

According to an investigation by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, the bullet that struck Durham was a wayward shot fired at a running deer. The shot came from 20 year-old Brett Wayne Fee of Dallas who was one of seven other hunters with Durham on Sunday. The DNR says because of the topography and dense cover, despite the fact that Durham and the other hunters were wearing blaze orange at the time of the incident, he could not be seen by Fee when the shot was fired.

Recreational Safety Officer Allen Crouse of the Iowa DNR says “hunters need to make sure they are wearing blaze orange so they are visible and to know where everyone else is before taking a shot… having blaze orange on to be as visible as possible is an important practice to avoid potentially tragic accidents”.